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Ceiling Fans

Ceiling fans can help make your home more comfortable during
both summer and winter. Using about the same electricity as
a 100-watt light bulb you can run one for just pennies a
day. By themselves in mild weather, ceiling fans offer a
low-cost alternative to air conditioning. Used in
conjunction with air conditioning in hot weather, ceiling
fans combine old and new technology to keep your family
comfortable. That's why those twirling paddles that date from pre-air conditioning days
are experiencing new popularity in today's homes.

How They Work

When it's warm, the blades of a turning ceiling fan normally
push air downward, causing cool air near the floor to travel
outward and mix with air at the edges of the room. The
process makes for more even cooling, and just the air
movement in the room alone can make it feel cooler by four
degrees or more! That means if you're using air conditioning
along with your fan, you can set the thermostat at a higher
than normal setting to save on energy.

If you use ceiling fans in the summer, however, keep in mind that it
does little good to run them when you're not around. The fan
really isn't cooling the room. Like a breeze on a hot summer
day, it's the blowing air moving across your body that makes
you feel cooler.

The same cooling effect caused by blowing air currents keeps
many people from using their ceiling fans in winter. But
most fans have a switch on the motor housing that changes
the direction in which the blades turn. Instead of forcing
air downward, the blades will push air up toward the
ceiling, where hot air normally rises, and drive it back
down around the edges of the room. That can result in more
even heating. And better heat circulation will help to
combat the problem of sweating windows that some homes
experience in the wintertime because of condensation on the
glass.

It's Your Money

Ceiling fans can help solve other cold weather problems as
well. For example, some two-story houses have open
stairways. Since heat rises, the upstairs can get hot, while
the downstairs - where the thermostat normally is - can
stay cold. As a result, the furnace can run more often and
heating is uneven. But mounting a ceiling fan at the top of
the stairway will mix the air more evenly, making the house
much more comfortable and cutting down on heating costs.

It's another example of how - in summer and in winter - fans can help you increase the comfort of your home and maybe decrease your monthly winter time energy bills.